`Mission Accomplished` Nasa Soars After Shuttle Touches Down

October 4, 1988|Chicago Tribune

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif.-- Discovery, descending majestically from cloud-streaked desert skies, returned to Earth on Monday, completing a flawless four-day mission that is expected to go a long way toward rebuilding confidence in America`s space program.

A thunderous double sonic boom announced Discovery`s arrival over the California high desert. As the orbiter began its approach, hundreds of thousands of spectators strained to pick out the tiny speck that had appeared above the fringe of mountains on the northern horizon.

It was an emotional moment -- relief yielding to exultation -- when Discovery finally and gently touched down on Runway 17 at 12:37 p.m., ending a four-day, triumphant mission that completed 64 Earth orbits totaling 1.68 million miles. The profound national trauma of the Challenger disaster 32 months ago may at last have been eased.

``A great ending to the new beginning,`` radioed Blaine Hammond of Mission Control in Houston to Discovery commander Rick Hauck as the 97-ton spacecraft rolled to a stop.

At a news conference after the landing, NASA Administrator James Fletcher called the mission ``an absolute stunning success.``

In a mission without a serious technical hitch, the hardest part for the five astronauts may have come early Monday morning, when they struggled in the shuttle`s weightless environment to don the new, 70-pound spacesuits now required for launch and re-entry.

Discovery began its re-entry burn while 184 miles above the Indian Ocean, just east of the southern tip of Madagascar. Less than an hour later, after a fiery plunge through the Earth`s atmosphere and a free-fall course over the Pacific, the crew began approach maneuvers above Edwards.

Discovery descended at a steep angle in an eerily silent glide. As it drew close to the runway at more than 200 mph, the nose pitched up and the wheels touched down in a perfect landing.

Hauck and his crew remained on board the orbiter for 53 minutes after landing, completing a detailed checklist of post-flight operations while ground technicians examined the spacecraft.

After a preliminary inspection, NASA officials said that remarkably few of the 30,000 heat-resistant tiles that form the shuttle`s protective skin were damaged on re-entry.

The first person to greet the crew was a flight physician who boarded Discovery to conduct preliminary medical examinations of the astronauts.

When Hauck, co-pilot Richard Covey, 42, and mission specialists John Lounge, 42, and David Hilmers and George Nelson, both 38, finally emerged from Discovery, they were officially welcomed by Vice President George Bush. Hauck carried a large American flag as he bounded down the gangway.

``We did it!`` he declared.

At welcoming ceremonies after the landing, Bush congratulated the crew as ``America`s high five.``

``You`ve shown that the shuttle is a strong ol` bird and that it could -- and should -- fly again,`` Bush said.

``Thank you for putting America back in space. Thank you for reminding us that`s where we belong. Thank you for all the unheralded hard work and thank you, thank you for your courage.``

Hauck, emotion cracking his voice, told the audience, ``It`s been a long road for the country, for NASA, for everybody involved in the program.``

Hilmers said that although his name would soon be forgotten, ``I want you to remember what America can do when it pulls together.``

Cheering, flag-waving spectators, many of whom had camped overnight, witnessed the landing from various vantage points around Edwards, the storied flight-test base in the Mojave Desert 80 miles north of Los Angeles.

``Oh, wow, isn`t that beauty in motion,`` said James Snelling, 19, of Glendale, Calif., as he picked up the descending orbiter in the lens of his camera. ``Mission accomplished!`` he shouted when it touched down.

After the preliminary debriefing was completed, the astronauts and their families had lunch with the vice president. The astronauts flew back to Houston on Monday evening and were greeted by another rousing reception.

The most important achievement of the mission was America`s return to manned spaceflight. It was a test of the shuttle program itself.

In the 32 months since Challenger exploded 73 seconds after launch, NASA has spent $2.4 billion and countless hours to redesign its shuttle fleet and improve safety. As a result, Discovery carried more than 200 design changes into space.

All the redesigned systems functioned properly, and ground control needed to monitor fewer than a dozen items as ``potential anomalies`` during the mission.